Breakdown of Bis zum Ruhestand wird er genug angespart haben.
er
he
haben
to have
genug
enough
zum
to the (zu + dem)
bis
until / to (as far as)
werden
will (future auxiliary)
ansparen
to save up
der Ruhestand
the retirement (phase of life)
Questions & Answers about Bis zum Ruhestand wird er genug angespart haben.
Why is Futur II (Future Perfect) used here instead of the regular future tense?
The Futur II emphasizes that an action will be completely finished by a specific deadline in the future. The phrase Bis zum Ruhestand (By retirement) provides that strict deadline. If we just used the regular future tense and said wird er sparen, it would mean he will just be in the process of saving money at that time, rather than having the goal completed.
How do we form the Futur II in this sentence?
You need three parts: the conjugated helping verb werden (here: wird), the past participle of the main verb (angespart), and the infinitive of the auxiliary verb it normally uses for the perfect tense (here: haben). Notice that the two non-conjugated parts, angespart haben, get pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why does the sentence use Bis zum instead of just Bis?
The preposition bis (until/by) is typically combined with zu when it is followed by a noun with an article. Since Ruhestand (retirement) is a masculine noun taking the definite article der (and zu forces the dative case), we use bis zu dem, which contracts to bis zum. If it were a year or a proper noun without an article, you would just use bis on its own, like bis 2050.
Why is the past participle angespart instead of geanspart?
The verb ansparen (to save up) is a separable verb made of the prefix an plus sparen. When forming the past participle of separable verbs, the ge is inserted between the prefix and the main verb stem, resulting in angespart.
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